Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 51 / Wednesday, March 17, 2010 / Notices 12743 

The referenced repayment studies are 

available for examination at 1166 

Athens Tech Road, Elberton, Georgia 

30635–6711. Proposed Rate Schedules 

SOCO–1–D, SOCO–2–D, SOCO–3–D, 

SOCO–4–D, ALA–1–M, MISS–1–M, 

Duke–1–D, Duke–2–D, Duke–3–D, 

Duke–4–D, Santee–1–D, Santee–2–D, 

Santee–3–D, Santee–4–D, SCE&G–1–D, 

SCE&G–2–D, SCE&G–3–D, SCE&G–4–D, 

Pump–1–A, Pump–2, Regulation–1, and 

Replacement–1 are also available. 

Dated: March 10, 2010. 

Kenneth E. Legg, 

Administrator. 

[FR Doc. 2010–5801 Filed 3–16–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY 

Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy; Request for 

Information; Weatherization 

Assistance Program; Sustainable 

Energy Resources for Consumers 

Grants 

AGENCY: Office of Energy Efficiency and 

Renewable Energy, Department of 

Energy. 

ACTION: Notice of Request for 

Information (RFI). 

SUMMARY: The Department of Energy 

(DOE) is seeking information from 

stakeholders on a potential competitive 

Funding Opportunity Announcement 

(FOA) in support of the Sustainable 

Energy Resources for Consumers Grants. 

The authority for these Grants was 

created by the Energy Independence and 

Security Act of 2007 (‘‘EISA’’) Section 

411(b). 

DATES: Written comments and 

information are requested on or before 

5 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday, March 

22, 2010. The RFI was posted publicly 

on FedConnect on Monday, March 8, 

2010. 

ADDRESSES: Interested persons may 

submit information by the following 

method: 

• E-mail: 

sustainableenergywap@hq.doe.gov. 

Please include ‘‘Response to Sustainable 

Energy Resources for Consumer Grants 

RFI’’ in the subject line of the message. 

• Instructions: Responses must be 

provided as a Microsoft Word (.doc) 

attachment to the e-mail, of no more 

than 3 pages in length, 12 point font, 1 

inch margins. Only electronic responses 

will be accepted. 

• The Request for Information can be 

viewed at: 

1. Go to the FedConnect Web site: 

https://www.fedconnect.net/. 

2. Click on ‘‘Search Public 

Opportunities.’’ 

3. Search by title: ‘‘Weatherization.’’ 

4. Select the listing with issue date of 

3/8/10. 

5. In the Documentation section at the 

right side of the screen, click on 

‘‘Weatherization Assistance Program 

Sustainable Energy Resources for 

Consumers Grants.’’ 

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: 

Direct requests for additional 

information to Mr. Tyler Huebner, U.S. 

Department of Energy, Office of 

Weatherization and Intergovernmental 

Programs, E-mail: 

sustainableenergywap@hq.doe.gov. 

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The 

Request for Information text as shown 

below was posted on FedConnect on 

Monday, March 8, 2010. 

DOE Request for Information (RFI) 

DE–FOA–0000283 

Weatherization Assistance Program 

Sustainable Energy Resources for 

Consumers Grants 

Date: March 8, 2010. 

Subject: Request for Information (RFI). 

Description: The Department of 

Energy (DOE) is seeking information 

from stakeholders on a potential 

competitive Funding Opportunity 

Announcement (FOA) in support of the 

Sustainable Energy Resources for 

Consumers Grants (‘‘Sustainable Energy 

Grants’’). The authority for these Grants 

was created by the Energy 

Independence and Security Act of 2007 

(‘‘EISA’’) Section 411(b). (42 U.S.C. 6827 

note). Program Manager/Area: Claire 

Broido Johnson/Weatherization and 

Intergovernmental Programs, Robert 

Adams/Weatherization Assistance 

Program (WAP). 

Background 

The traditional Weatherization 

Assistance Program (‘‘WAP’’ or ‘‘the 

Program’’) provides funds to States, the 

District of Columbia, the 

Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and 

other U.S territories to weatherize the 

homes of low income Americans. EISA 

Section 411(b) authorizes the Secretary 

to make funding available to local 

weatherization agencies to expand the 

Weatherization Assistance Program for 

residential buildings to include 

materials, benefits, and renewable and 

domestic energy technologies not 

currently covered by the Program. 

Section 411(b) states that for a local 

agency applicant to receive funding 

under this provision, the State 

weatherization agency (the grantee 

under the traditional WAP) must certify 

that the applicant has the capacity to 

carry out the proposed activities and 

that the State weatherization agency 

will include the project in their 

financial oversight of the traditional 

WAP. 

The amount of funds used for 

Sustainable Energy Grants may equal up 

to two (2) percent of the amount of 

funds made available for any fiscal year 

under section 422 of the Energy 

Conservation and Production Act (42 

U.S.C. 6872; the WAP authority) if those 

funds exceed $275 million. The 

American Recovery and Reinvestment 

Act (‘‘ARRA’’ or ‘‘Recovery Act’’) 

provided $5 billion for WAP, and FY 

2009 provided $450 million ($250 

million in supplemental and $200 

million in base FY 2009 funding). Thus, 

the Department has up to $109 million 

available for Sustainable Energy Grants. 

Purposes of the Sustainable Energy 

Resources for Consumers Grants 

The purposes of the Sustainable 

Energy Resources for Consumers Grants 

are to: 

• Expand WAP for residential 

buildings to include materials, benefits, 

and renewable and domestic energy 

technologies not covered by the 

Program; 

• Work with existing partners to 

expand and enhance the Program. 

Section 411(b)(2) states that in 

selecting grant recipients under this 

subsection, DOE shall give priority to: 

(A) The expected effectiveness and 

benefits of the proposed project to lowand moderate-income energy 

consumers; 

(B) The potential for replication of 

successful results; 

(C) The impact on the health and 

safety and energy costs of consumers 

served; and 

(D) The extent of partnerships with 

other public and private entities that 

contribute to the resources and 

implementation of the program, 

including financial partnerships. 

The purpose of this Request for 

Information (RFI) is primarily to 

determine the interest and capacity of 

local weatherization agencies to apply 

for and implement the Sustainable 

Energy Grants, and the types of 

activities that applicants would 

propose; and secondarily to solicit 

feedback on the proposed topic area and 

evaluation criteria for these competitive 

Sustainable Energy Grants. 

This is a Request for Information (RFI) 

and not a Funding Opportunity 

Announcement (FOA). DOE is not 

accepting applications, and is instead 

seeking information from local 

weatherization agencies, State 

Weatherization agencies, and other 

stakeholders under the potential FOA. 


wwoods2 on DSK1DXX6B1PROD with NOTICES_PART 1
12744 Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 51 / Wednesday, March 17, 2010 / Notices 

Request for Information (RFI) 

Guidelines 

Responses to this RFI must be 

submitted by e-mail to 

sustainableenergywap@hq.doe.gov no 

later than 5 p.m. Eastern Time on March 

22, 2010. Responses must be provided 

as a Microsoft Word (.doc) attachment to 

the e-mail, of no more than 3 pages in 

length, 12 point font, 1 inch margins. 

Only electronic responses will be 

accepted. 

Parties interested in submitting a 

response to this RFI should first review 

these RFI Guidelines and the Questions 

below. Any information obtained as a 

result of this RFI is intended to be used 

by the Government on a non-attribution 

basis for program planning and funding 

opportunity strategy development. DOE 

will review and consider all responses 

in its formulation of program strategies 

in the pursuant FOA. Information or 

data that is restricted in any way or 

limited for use by the Government is not 

solicited and will not be considered. 

Responses will not be considered 

confidential. Do not provide 

confidential or proprietary information 

in your response. DOE will not respond 

to individual submissions or publish 

publicly a compendium of responses. 

This RFI serves as a one-way process for 

DOE to obtain feedback on its plans for 

Sustainable Energy Resources for 

Consumers Competitive Grants FOA. 

DOE reserves the right to not issue a 

FOA at the conclusion of this process. 

Respondents are requested to provide 

the following information at the start of 

their response to this RFI: 

• Local Weatherization Provider/ 

State WAP Agency/Government/ 

Company/institutional name; 

• Name of Point of Contact; 

• Address, phone number, and e-mail 

address. 

A response to this RFI will not be 

viewed as a binding commitment to 

develop or pursue the project or ideas 

discussed. DOE may also decide at a 

later date to issue a FOA based on 

consideration of the feedback received 

from this RFI. 

DOE will not pay for information 

provided under this RFI, and there is no 

guarantee that a project will be 

supported as a result of this RFI. 

Respondents under this RFI will not 

receive any additional consideration for 

any forthcoming solicitation. This RFI is 

not accepting applications for financial 

assistance or financial incentives. DOE 

has no obligation to respond to those 

who submit comments, and/or give any 

feedback on any decision made based 

on the comments received. 

Note: There are two funding sources 

covered under this authority: up to $100 

million from the Recovery Act, and up to $9 

million from FY 2009 regular and 

supplemental funding. DOE is requesting 

information for both of these funding sources 

in this single RFI. For projects selected under 

the planned FOA that would be funded from 

the Recovery Act, all Federal funds would 

need to be expensed within three (3) years, 

and Recovery Act reporting requirements 

will be used. 

Funds Restrictions 

Except as identified by section 411(b) 

(i.e., materials, benefits, and renewable 

and domestic energy technologies) DOE 

intends for the restrictions under the 

WAP authorities to apply. Additionally, 

awards funded under the Recovery Act 

will be subject to the applicable ARRA 

provisions (e.g., application of the 

Davis-Bacon Act). 

DOE thanks you for your assistance 

and comments in helping to achieve the 

goals of the Recovery Act and the 

Weatherization Program. 

Request for Information Feedback 

Questions 

Respondents need not reply to all 

Questions in their response. We 

especially request local weatherization 

service providers to respond to 

Questions 1 and 2. 

Question 1: Potential Applicants, Please 

Comment Regarding Your Interest and 

Current Capacity To Successfully 

Implement a Sustainable Energy for 

Consumers Grant 

Under the Recovery Act each local 

weatherization service provider has 

been asked to increase the scale of its 

weatherization activities with increased 

administrative efforts and public 

scrutiny. As a local weatherization 

service provider, do you have the 

capacity to administer additional DOE 

grant money (in the range of $5–$10 

million) to weatherize additional homes 

under this provision? 

Question 2: Potential Applicants, Please 

Describe What Materials, Benefits, and 

Renewable and Domestic Energy 

Technologies You Propose To Fund 

With a Sustainable Energy Grant 

The list below is not meant to be 

prescriptive or comprehensive but 

rather to illustrate the nature and range 

of ideas DOE is considering. 

• Durable high-R building envelope 

retrofits, such as high-performance 

walls, foundations, windows, attic 

ventilation, attic and basement air 

sealing, cool roofs, and ceiling or 

cathedral roof insulation; 

• High-performance space 

conditioning system retrofits, such as air 

handler upgrades, ducts in conditioned 

space, ventilation, heating, solar 

ventilation pre-heat, cooling, or direct 

supply of combustion air; 

• High-performance hot water 

systems, such as condensing, heat pump 

and solar hot water systems; 

• Small-scale renewable energy 

systems, including 

Æ Solar photovoltaics. 

Æ Solar hot water. 

Æ Small-scale wind. 

Æ Or others as appropriate. 

• Integration with utility smart-grid 

pilots or implementations; 

• Energy usage benchmarking with 

feedback, either in-home or online, to 

the users; 

• Community-Based Social Marketing 

(CBSM) and other behavioral 

approaches; 

• Developing innovative buying 

cooperatives and bulk buying strategies 

to lower costs of materials; 

• Engaging volunteer groups 

(applicants proposing an approach with 

volunteers must be prepared to have 

proper liability insurance for volunteers 

and dwellings). 

Question 3: Please Comment on the 

Proposed Number and Size of Awards 

DOE proposes specifically targeting 

these funds for a small number of highprofile, high-impact awards. DOE 

proposes to make 10 to 20 awards at 

funding levels of $5 to $10 million each. 

Reminder: Only local weatherization 

agencies that are eligible to receive WAP 

funding are eligible to receive grants 

under this proposed FOA. A local 

agency applicant for the grant must be 

certified by its State Weatherization 

Program as having the capacity to 

conduct the proposed project and the 

State must exercise financial oversight 

over the grants to any of their agencies. 

Question 4: Potential Applicants, How 

Do You Intend To Leverage Federal 

Funding With This Grant? 

DOE will strongly encourage 

applications that plan to leverage the 

participation and support of multiple 

partners, including utilities, regional 

planning agencies, businesses, financial 

institutions, non-governmental 

organizations, and State energy offices. 

Question 5: Potential Applicants, Do 

You Intend To Develop or Enhance a 

Revenue Model To Provide Future 

Sustainable Funding? If So, Please 

Briefly Explain 

DOE believes there are multiple viable 

approaches to developing revenue 

streams from residential efficiency 

improvements that may be used to 

improve program sustainability after 


wwoods2 on DSK1DXX6B1PROD with NOTICES_PART 1
Federal Register / Vol. 75, No. 51 / Wednesday, March 17, 2010 / Notices 12745 

grant monies are exhausted. These may 

include revolving loan funds, utility onbill payment and/or financing, the sale 

of carbon and other offsets, the sale of 

white tags to meet efficiency mandates, 

and the sale of efficiencies into forward 

capacity markets. DOE intends to allow 

maximum flexibility to applicants to 

demonstrate innovative models of 

sustainability. DOE is interested in 

learning whether applicants will 

consider using a Sustainable Energy 

Grant to develop or enhance a revenue 

model similar to these listed. 

Question 6: Please Comment on the 

Proposed Application Structure 

Proposed Application structure. 

Applications for the proposed FOA 

shall include at least the following key 

elements: 

1. A description of how many and 

what kinds of units will be targeted by 

the program, and their geographic 

location. This may be a map of zones/ 

neighborhoods that will be targeted, or 

a detailed text description. 

2. A description of how the program 

will conduct outreach/marketing to 

customers of the program and convince 

them to agree to participate. 

3. A description of how the 

weatherization will be delivered, 

including who will do the audits and 

contract work. 

4. A description of how savings from 

weatherization will be monitored and 

verified. 

5. A description of how the program 

will be financed, including both 

leveraged funds and alternate revenue 

streams as discussed above. This section 

of the application should also include a 

discussion of the sustainability of the 

program after the grant monies are 

exhausted. 

6. An implementation plan describing 

the overall execution of the program, 

including a detailed timeline and 

milestones at each stage. 

7. Letters of commitment from all 

partners contributing project funds, and 

project support letters from an executive 

officer from all key partners. 

Applicants will be encouraged to add 

further discussion as necessary, 

including an analysis of key market 

barriers to retrofits in their local 

jurisdiction, local resources other than 

funding, a description of the applicant’s 

historical work in WAP and other 

energy efficiency programs, and any 

other relevant information. 

DOE will be conducting a formal 

independent evaluation of the projects 

funded with Sustainable Energy Grants, 

and recipients under this proposed FOA 

would need to cooperate with the 

collection of information for assessment. 

Recipients will be expected to complete 

a Project Final Report which will 

document the project’s achievements, 

the steps that were undertaken through 

the project’s processes, and lessons 

learned that can help DOE support 

replication of success. 

Question 7: Please Comment on the 

Proposed Merit Review Criteria 

Proposed Merit Review Criteria 

Criterion 1: Project Impact. 

Weight: [50%] 

• The expected quantitative impact of 

the proposed project to low and 

moderate income energy consumers in 

terms of homes weatherized, cost per 

weatherized home, energy saved per 

home, emissions avoided, and jobs 

created. 

• The potential for replication of 

successful results, both within the local 

jurisdiction in future years as well as by 

other local agencies and communities 

around the country. 

• The impact on the health and safety 

and energy costs of consumers served. 

• The extent to which the proposed 

project will create meaningful and 

sustainable market transformation, 

particularly after grant monies are 

exhausted. 

Criterion 2: Project Approach. 

Weight: [25%] 

• The soundness of the project’s 

management strategy, including the 

extent to which the proposal contains 

clear goals, well-defined tasks and 

methods, objective deliverables, and 

realistic schedule and milestones. 

• The specifics of the outreach/ 

marketing strategy, the funding 

structure, the implementation/delivery 

plan, and the monitoring/verification 

plan, and the strategy for feedback and 

continuous improvement of the program 

during its operation. 

• The extent to which institutional, 

regulatory, or market barriers have been 

identified and the project includes 

reasonable approaches to overcoming 

those barriers. 

• The extent to which the application 

demonstrates the ability to fulfill 

requirements of the Recovery Act, 

including Davis-Bacon, Buy American, 

and reporting capabilities (if Recovery 

Act funding is used). 

• Soundness of Evaluation Strategy, 

including proper record keeping for 

DOE evaluation, and utility bill proof or 

actual measurements of energy savings 

where possible. 

Criterion 3: Partnership Structure and 

Capabilities. 

Weight: [25%] 

• The extent to which roles and 

responsibilities of each partner/team 

member have been identified and are 

reasonably matched to their ability to 

successfully manage and implement the 

proposed project. 

• The ability of the project team to 

complete the work successfully, 

including qualifications, credentials, 

capabilities and experience of key 

personnel/team members. 

Question 8: Please Comment on the 

Proposed Program Policy Factors 

Proposed Program Policy Factors 

• Diversity of awards, including 

geographic locations, climates, and 

program structures. 

• Benefits to low- and moderateincome families and economically 

distressed areas. 

• The extent of partnerships with 

other public and private entities that 

contribute to the resources and 

implementation of the program, 

including financial partnerships. 

• Selection of applications that 

promote and enhance the objectives of 

the Recovery Act, especially job creation 

and preservation, and economic 

recovery (if funded by the Recovery 

Act). 

Question 9: ‘‘Moderate Income’’ 

The WAP Program has traditionally 

served low-income energy users and 

‘‘low-income’’ is defined under the WAP 

authorities as 200% of poverty level. 

DOE requests information on the 

income range that could be 

characterized as ‘‘moderate income.’’ 

Issued in Washington, DC, on March 11, 

2010. 

Kathleen Hogan, 

Deputy Assistant Secretary, Energy Efficiency 

and Renewable Energy. 

[FR Doc. 2010–5799 Filed 3–16–10; 8:45 am] 

BILLING CODE 6450–01–P 

ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION 

AGENCY 

[EPA–HQ–OPP–2010–0001; FRL–8815–5] 

SFIREG Environmental Quality Issues 

Working Committee Meeting 

AGENCY: Environmental Protection 

Agency (EPA). 

ACTION: Notice. 

SUMMARY: The Association of American 

Pesticide Control Officials (AAPCO)/ 

State FIFRA Issues Research and 

Evaluation Group (SFIREG), 

Environmental Quality Issues (EQI) 

Working Committee will hold a 2–day 

meeting, beginning on April 26, 2010, 

and ending April 27, 2010. This notice 

announces the location and times for 


wwoods2 on DSK1DXX6B1PROD with NOTICES_PART 1